Innovation Showcase

We celebrate the brilliance and curiosity of inventors everywhere and from every time period. Obviously, we have a thing for Leonardo da Vinci. But when a curious mind from Utah is able to achieve something extraordinary, innovative, or just plain awesome, we get really excited!

The Innovation Showcase AKA Made in Utah is where we display some of the amazing things created by people who grew up just a few hours away from you. We hope as you discover their stories, that you will be inspired to be brave enough to change the landscape of the world, just like they did.

CLEARLY, THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WATER

Utahns have been inventing for decades. Here are a couple of our favorite invention stories:

The idea for the Frisbee came about while Walter Frederick Morrison (from Richfield, UT) was on vacation. He and his wife bought a cake tin for a nickel and began throwing it around on the beach. When someone offered to buy it for a quarter, he realized he was onto something.

The Jarvik-7, an artificial heart developed up the road at the University of Utah, has the highest success rate of any kind of artificial heart or assist device. It’s given decades of life back to patients who thought they were out of time.

You don’t have to be from Silicon Valley to be an innovator, and the evidence is right inside our four walls. Anyone who is curious enough, asks questions, and tirelessly seeks answers can change the world—just like Leo did.

So what will be your mark on the world? Will your idea be the next big thing? If it is, we hope you’ll come be in our Innovation Showcase, and pass on your story to the next generation of great inventors.

Staff Tip: Did you know that there is street in Salt Lake City named after Dr. Mario Capecchi, an innovator featured in our showcase exhibit? Visit the 3rd floor of the museum to learn how he revolutionized genetic research and won a Nobel Prize!

Find Your Inner Genius.

Ask questions. Be curious. This is a museum where you touch the exhibits.